On May 27, 1997 the United States Department of Justice (the "D.O.J.") filed a lawsuit against Metropolitan Dade County, Florida to enforce provisions of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The DOJ sought injunctive and compensatory ... read more >

On May 27, 1997 the United States Department of Justice (the "D.O.J.") filed a lawsuit against Metropolitan Dade County, Florida to enforce provisions of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The DOJ sought injunctive and compensatory relief, alleging that the defendant had violated Title VII by discriminating against a female corrections officer on the basis of sex. Specifically, the individual employee was subjected to sexual harassment during the course of her employment, which resulted in a hostile work environment.

On June 12, 1997, the District Court (Judge James Lawrence King) entered the settlement agreement reached by the parties. The agreement requires the defendant to refrain from discriminating against any employee in the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in any term or condition of employment because of such employee's sex. Specifically, the agreement prohibited the defendant from: (a) creating, maintaining, supporting, condoning, or ignoring a sexually hostile work environment; and (b) failing or refusing to investigate and to take prompt and sufficient remedial action when complaints of employment discrimination based on gender, including sexual harassment, are brought to the defendant's or its Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's attention. The defendants were required (1) to institute and carry out policies and practices to ensure a work environment free from sex discrimination, and (2) continue to provide training on sex discrimination, including sexual harassment. The agreement provided further relief for the individual employee named in the complaint. The court retained jurisdiction for the life of the agreement, three years.

The case was closed on June 12, 1997, the same day the settlement agreement was entered.